The Life and Trials of Liam Murphy
by coldfusion9797
Summary: Sequel to What Heath Wants. Heath and Liam face the challenges of life together. Or maybe Liam just faces the challenge that is Heath. Either way, you know it's gonna be adorable. Heath/Liam. Set 2011.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Here we go again! Yes, this is a sequel, it follows on from What Heath Wants, picking up Heath and Liam's story a couple of months after the last story ended. Again I am basing some of this on plot points from the show and anything that doesn't fit with cannon is most likely intentional. And again, I am taking liberties with timelines. All the same warnings apply- slash, swearing, occasional violence. **

**lycanus1, lola, Challenger243 and RowenaLongbottom this is for you guys. Enjoy! **

Heath woke in utter contentment, Casey was coming home today. Coming back to his family where he belonged. The trial had been hard to take, the sentence even harder and then Casey was gone. Heath had done time in juvie himself and he knew how bad it could be. He hated to think of his little brother there, but Casey had proved tough, he'd survived it and for Casey, soon it would all be a bad memory. Selfishly, Heath couldn't say the same. Through it all Liam had been there with him and it had brought them so much closer. If it had been himself or Brax, Heath probably could've handled it better, but seeing Casey dragged through that after they'd tried so hard to keep him out of it all was bloody hard to deal with. On top of everything else it was a failure. And life hadn't been easy for Brax either. He and the cop had run into some trouble with Pirovitch and the germ had ended up shot dead because of it. That whole incident had brought Brax and Charlie closer too and Heath would've been left alone to deal if he didn't have Liam. He was so thankful that he did. Heath shuffled back a little, pressing himself as close as he could to Liam, who was curled sleeping behind him. Man, he loved this. Heath ghosted his fingers over the arm Liam had wrapped around him, while he thought of how lucky he was, of how he never wanted to this to end. Of course he'd never say any of this rubbish to Liam, but it was ok to think it. He felt Liam's hold on him tighten and knew that meant the other man was waking.

"Good morning," Liam mumbled, pressing a kiss to Heath's shoulder. Indeed it was. Laying here in bed with the man he loved, nothing could ruin this moment...except maybe a knock at the door. But then Heath remembered Casey was being released today. He flew out of bed, wearing just his boxers, and went to answer it. He was reaching for the handle before he realised that Casey wouldn't need to knock. He pulled the door open anyway to see Connie Callahan, and Tegan's little girl...his little girl.

"Heath," Connie sighed, as though she expected no less from him than to answer the door in his underwear. Great, they were off to a brilliant start already.

"Hi Connie, is there anything I can do for you?" Heath asked with a polite smile in an attempt to salvage the situation.

"Well actually there is..." Connie said, though clearly she wasn't happy about it. "Look, I wouldn't have come here if I had anywhere else to go, but my sister's in hospital and I need someone to take care of Darcy for a little while. Do you think you can do that?"

"Sure," Heath said, what kind of a loser Dad would he be if he couldn't take care of his own kid for a couple of hours?

"Are your brothers here?" Connie enquired.

"No, but Casey will be here soon, he gets out of juvie today." Connie looked at him with unveiled disgust. "It's not like he killed anyone," Heath hurried to explain, "he just set a building on fire..." His explanation didn't seem to help. Connie put her hand on Darcy's shoulder to guide her away. "Wait," Heath said, suddenly wishing Connie wouldn't take the girl away, "I can do this Connie. She'll be alright here. You said it's just for a little while right?" Connie looked at him consideringly, weighing her options and apparently she had a heart in there somewhere because finally she consented.

"Alright," she said tightly, "I'll be back as soon as I can. Darcy has everything she needs in her backpack. I'll be back in time for her lunch but just in case, I've packed her a sandwich." Now she turned to Darcy. "Be a good girl Darcy, _you_ know the difference between right and wrong." Fucking hell, how much did she think he could corrupt the kid in a few hours? Although he did take some satisfaction from the fact that Darcy was half Braxton and there was nothing Connie could do about that. Darcy nodded and said goodbye to her grandmother. And then Connie was gone, leaving Heath responsible for the care of his daughter.

"It's good to see ya Darcy," he told her with a grin, certain that his charm could win the child over.

"Should I call you Dad?" Darcy shot back, wow, that was straight to the point. Heath hadn't really thought about it, but it seemed like the logical thing to do.

"Sure, if you want to." She gave him a sideways glance as she marched past him into the house. Geez, tough crowd. It was then that Liam emerged from the bedroom.

"Who're you?" Darcy asked with that frankness children have.

"I'm Liam, and you must be Darcy..." Liam ventured, glancing at Heath for confirmation. Heath nodded. Darcy dismissed it and moved on.

"Why aren't you wearing any clothes?"

"Umm..." Liam began, wondering if he should point out that he was wearing boxers and that they totally counted as clothes.

"Okaay," Heath said much louder than necessary, and he threw Liam a 'maybe you better get dressed' look. "How about you do some colouring in or something, huh kiddo?"

"Ok," she agreed happily, perching herself at the table and pulling a book and some pencils from her backpack. Liam retreated to the bedroom and was followed soon after by Heath.

"So that's your daughter..." Liam said as he pulled on yesterday's jeans.

"Yeah," Heath said as he threw on a singlet, "Connie must be bloody desperate if I'm allowed to look after her, I've never had her on my own before..." In fact, Heath had only met his daughter on a couple of occasions before today, and they hadn't been under the best of circumstances.

"You know," Liam said, failing to hide a smile, "I can see the resemblance..."

"Shut up," Heath shot back, hurling a pillow at Liam for that smartarse comment. But it was kinda nice to think that Darcy wasn't completely unlike him.

Less than a minute later they reappeared back in Darcy's presence, fully clothed this time. The little girl was still at the table working furiously on colouring in a rabbit that was sitting on a mushroom, it wouldn't be long before she was done. What other stuff did kids like to do?

"You know what Darcy, it's a nice day, how 'bout we go to the beach?"

"Yeah!" she said excitedly jumping up from her seat and abandoning her multi-coloured rabbit.

"Cool, we can swing by the bait shop and get you a spade and stuff on the way." Heath threw Liam a look as if to say 'you got it covered?'

"Sure," Liam agreed, he wasn't gonna not let the kid have a couple toys for the beach because Heath hadn't sold any drugs recently. Heath said he meant to get out of dealing one day, but it was hard when it was the only earning based skill he had. Liam wanted to help him but he just wasn't sure how without sounding condescending. Anyway, that was a conversation for another day.

As planned they went via the bait shop and once they were at the beach they got to work on building a castle. Now that he had tools, Heath tutored both Darcy and Liam on the finer points of building an awesome sandcastle. Liam spent less time thinking about the particulars of sandcastle construction, than he did watching the easy way Heath and Darcy got along. It was unlike most father-daughter relationships, they were more like peers now that they had a common goal, and that made Liam smile. Heath fitting right in with the mentality of a ten year old seemed about right.

"What are you grinning at?" Heath asked suddenly.

"It's a nice day and we're a family at the beach, I'm happy." Heath continued to look at Liam sceptically for a few moments longer before getting back to helping Darcy.

Eventually the pair declared they were done and Darcy insisted upon finding shells to decorate the castle. The three of them combed the beach, not having a whole lot of luck and Darcy became adamant that the best ones would be up the other end of the beach. So they walked all the way there and back, not finding any better shells than the ones they had, but it didn't matter, this was nice. By the time they made it back a good while later, Darcy having stopped to investigate every piece of weed and creature that had washed up, the tide had risen enough that the waves were lapping at the remains of their ruined castle. Darcy wanted to start again, and maybe Heath did too, so they did. By the time they were done, Darcy was tired, and they were all hungry so they headed back to the house.

Heath's good mood took a hit when they arrived back at the house to see an angry Connie waiting for them.

"Where have you been?"

"We-" Heath began but Darcy cut him off.

"We went to the beach Gran, it was so much fun, we built a sandcastle and collected shells," here Darcy turned out the contents of her pockets which contained just as much sand as shells, Connie didn't look as excited as Darcy about it. "We were just coming back to have lunch."

"Lunch? It's two o'clock." Heath looked at his watch, so it was.

"Boy, time really does fly when you're having fun, huh Darce?"

"Yeah," she grinned up at him.

"So she hasn't had anything to eat since I dropped her off?"

"Nah, I haven't either. Like she said, we were gonna have lunch now."

"She's a child, she needs food." Connie was getting way too worked up about this.

"Chill, there's some in the house, we can eat now." Heath walked inside to the fridge and why Connie followed him, he'll never know. Maybe if she hadn't everything wouldn't have turned to shit. "Ok, what have we got here?" Nothing by the looks of it, maybe he'd have better luck in the freezer. "Uh-huh! Perfect." He pulled a tub of choc chip ice-cream out.

"That is not food." Connie stated.

"Sure it is," Heath said, pulling the lid off and grabbing a spoon. He tried to hand the tub to Darcy but Connie stepped in front her so he couldn't.

"You can't seriously think it's alright to feed her ice-cream for lunch?"

"I don't see what the big deal is?"

"No," Connie said, "you don't. That's what frightens me the most."

"Hey c'mon," Liam said, finally stepping in. He was going to mind his own business and leave this to Heath but now Connie was just being a bitch and he wasn't gonna let her treat Heath like this.

"And who're you?" Connie asked disdainfully.

"A friend of Heath's."

"One that obviously doesn't have children..." she said judgmentally.

"Not that it's any of your business but actually I-"

"He didn't have any clothes on this morning," Darcy chimed in. Connie snapped.

"That's it, we are going right now! Darcy, get your things." Darcy went to pack her book and pencils in her backpack.

"Hang on a minute," Heath said to Connie, "it wasn't like that, he was wearing pyjamas." Again, Heath's explanation didn't help, he just couldn't catch a break. Connie looked back and forwards between them both, her gaze settling on Liam.

"You're one of _those_," she said making no effort to hide her disgust.

"One of what?" Liam said, firing up at her.

"_Those_," she repeated, mindful of the fact that Darcy was here. "And you," she said, turning her hateful words to Heath, "will stay away from my granddaughter, you're not fit to be a father."

"That's a bit harsh Connie, anyway you're the one that brought her here."

"I won't be making that mistake again," she said as she ushered Darcy towards the door.

As Connie marched Darcy out of the house, Casey passed them on his way in. It was impossible for him to miss the hostility radiating from the woman.

"What was that about?" he asked as he dumped his bag on the floor. This wasn't quite the homecoming Heath had had in mind for him, but it didn't matter, he was here now, that's what counted.

"Nothing, doesn't matter." Then Heath stepped forward and hugged Casey. Normally he wouldn't, but he felt like he'd just had the rug pulled from under him and he needed the reassurance that Casey was really here. When Heath let go, Liam stepped forward and shook Casey's hand.

"It's good to see ya mate."

"Yeah you too. Man I'm glad I'm outta that shithole."

"How was it?" Heath asked, giving Casey a chance to talk if he wanted too, but Heath wasn't gonna push it, some things were best forgotten.

"It was no picnic, but I survived." Now that Heath took the time to study Casey he could see it was true. Casey looked different; tougher and more sure of himself.

"I'm proud of ya Case, you proved you've got sand."

"A real River Boy huh?" he smirked.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah I do, thanks Heath. Well I better keep moving, tonight's our Year 12 formal and I'm gonna surprise Ruby. I'll catch ya's later," Casey said before he turned and left.

Heath's head was spinning, there was a lot to process from the last fifteen minutes, not the least of which was Connie calling him an unfit father. He turned to Liam, who seemed to be thinking it all over too.

"Did you mean that family thing you said at the beach?"

"Yes."

"Good." That was all Heath needed to hear.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: This story always did lean towards being crack. This chapter is no different... **

Man it was good to be home. A few weeks of sun and sand and Casey felt refreshed. Juvie hadn't really been that bad. He'd beat the crap outta the toughest looking kid he could find on the first day and after that no one had hassled him. Of course he was constantly looking over his shoulder but he'd never run into any more trouble. But enough of that, he was free now, he didn't have to think about that stuff anymore. Coming home to the formal had helped. He'd been able to jump straight back into his life and spending that night with Ruby and his mates, just dancing and being kids, had allowed Casey to really put the past behind him. Normalcy had been exactly what he'd needed. And another brilliant thing about being home was the beach. Being able to hit the waves again was awesome, he'd missed the ocean. The freedom, the beauty, the rush. Reluctantly he turned his back on it for now and headed back the house after early morning surf, but at least he was outside and he was free and Casey felt maybe as good as he ever had. Things were on track, everyone was happy. Brax and Charlie finally had things sorted, he and Ruby were settled, and Heath? Well Heath seemed impossibly happy dating a guy. As strange as it was his brother and the rock star just seemed to work. Of course there were parts of their relationship he'd avoid thinking about at all costs but from what he saw of them, they meshed well. Liam provided a calming influence for Heath, and Heath seemed more settled, that restless energy was focused on his new relationship, rather than getting into trouble. And for Liam's part Heath never failed to brighten his day in some way, because Casey knew the bartender had a habit of brooding, and had suffered from bouts of depression, but Heath chased that away. They were good for each other and Casey was pleased for them. Apparently his stint in juvie had been good for him in a way, he found that he didn't worry about little things anymore. He didn't care that his brother was gay, or what other people might think about that. When he'd first found out, he'd been embarrassed by it, but now it didn't matter, as long as his family was happy Casey could be too.

Arriving home, Casey stashed his surfboard outside before heading in for a shower. For a long time to come he would regret his unfortunate timing. He stepped into the hallway and there they were...

"Oh my God!" Casey cried, before beating a hasty retreat. He headed for the kitchen sink, with some kinda half-baked notion about washing his eyes spurring him on. "Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod..." Hastily he turned the tap on, he sooo didn't need to see that. He watched the water rush down the drain, unable to think past the disgusting scene he'd just witnessed. He turned the tap off again, water wasn't going to remove the horrible image burned into his retinas. Lemon juice, maybe that would do it, or steel wool...

"Case, I'm sorry, you probably didn't need to see that." Casey glanced at his brother who was barely dressed and moments before had...gah! He didn't wanna think about it, but it wouldn't go away.

"Probably?! That was the most traumatic thing I've ever witnessed! I'm gonna need counselling for, for like...forever!" He hurled a tea towel at Heath, maybe if he hid behind it Casey wouldn't be reminded...

"Oh c'mon ya big girl, that's a bit dramatic. It was just a-"

"No! Don't say it! God, I don't need to hear it too." Heath's mouth twitched, Casey swore to God if he laughed now he'd kill him. This was the least funny thing he'd ever experienced.

"Sorry about that Casey," Liam said, appearing by Heath's side. He at least had the decency to look embarrassed, and to put some pants on. Casey glanced at his lips, they were flushed and shining... No! Don't look at his mouth, don't think about where it's been...oh fuck! Casey really was gonna need to see a shrink, this had scarred him for life. It was one thing to know that your brother liked doing _things_ with a dude, but to see it, the beach had been bad enough, but to see him being...having his...fuck! Casey closed his eyes and tried to wipe the image but it was useless. It had taken up residency in his brain and...and what if it never went away?

"Fuck this! You two are gross, I'm going to clean up." Though Casey was sure no amount of scrubbing was ever gonna remove this totally icky feeling.

"The shower's where we were heading, just didn't quite make it. That's ok though, you go first."

"Heath..." Liam warned gently, at least he was smart enough to know that teasing Casey in this moment wasn't the best idea.

"You just had to, didn't you?" Casey said, half of him furious, but half of him pleading with Heath to have mercy on him. He didn't need friends for the disturbing picture that had taken root in his mind, but already his imagination was conjuring up all kinds of sick images. Hands against a foggy shower screen, and other _parts_, against other _places_...no, no, no!

"Yep."

"Is anywhere safe?" Why? Why in God's name would he ask that? He just needed to walk out of the room before he was ruined completely.

"I dunno Case," Heath pondered, "Brax hasn't been here much, we've pretty much had the place to ourselves." A look of utter horror appeared on Casey's face as he sprang forward, scared to touch anything that might have been...violated.

"Stop it, it's disgusting," Casey pleaded, before dashing out of the room.

Now that Casey was gone, Liam turned to Heath.

"Well that wasn't mortifying," he said sarcastically. Heath didn't respond. "How could you do that to him? Aren't you embarrassed?" Heath fixed him with a steady look.

"I've never been more embarrassed in my life, but you think I was gonna let him see that?"

"Heathlogic..." Liam muttered, shaking his head in disbelief, not sure if he'd ever understand Heath entirely. But deep down he knew he didn't want to, he liked Heath's unpredictability, he hoped Heath would always keep him guessing.

"What?"

"Nothing. Now what?"

"I dunno," Heath shrugged, "having my little brother catch you tonsil deep in cock was kinda a mood killer." Liam sighed, both at the situation and Heath's graphic description. And yep, the mood was definitely dead.

xxx

"What's on your mind Case? You're very quiet." Oh shit it must be bad if there was a noticeable difference in him.

"I saw something I never, ever needed to see."

"What?" Ruby pressed, and it occurred to Casey then that a problem shared was a problem halved, and maybe if he put the horrible picture in her head too he wouldn't have to think about it so much. It wasn't a very nice thing to do to his girlfriend, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"I walked in on Heath and Liam this morning."

"Oh." Her tone indicated she'd heard enough but Casey ploughed on, desperate for anything that would help him hold onto his sanity.

"Heath was pressed against the wall and Liam was kneeling in fron-"

"Ok Case, I get the picture, don't say anymore, I don't wanna be scarred for life."

"But I am," Casey pointed out, any good girlfriend would want to share this burden. She gave him a sympathetic look, but not an encouraging one.

"I have to face them tonight," she reminded him. She was right. Now that Brax and Charlie had things sorted, Brax was on some crazy crusade to make them one big happy family and had decided that a backyard BBQ was the best way to do that. "I want to be able to look them in the eye."

"Fine," Casey conceded, it was a fair point, he knew he wasn't gonna be able to pretend like nothing had happened, maybe he would need Ruby to do it for both of them.

xxx

So much for a nice family get together. Heath and Casey had barely spoken two words all night. They skulked in opposite corners of the yard, seemingly determined to make this as difficult as possible. Putting on a happy face, Brax gave them one last chance to make nice.

"Grub's up," he called as he placed the tray of meat on the table. Heath, Liam, Casey and Ruby all came over to sit, but even that caused a drama. No one wanted to sit next to anyone, or opposite anyone, and at a six seat outdoor setting that didn't leave a whole lot of options. In the end Heath sat to Brax's left, opposite Charlie, Ruby sat next her sister, Liam next to Heath and Casey sat opposite Brax, at the other end of the table, between Ruby and Liam. Casey and Heath sat with their heads hung low, and everyone was silent. Eventually it got the better of Brax. For once, just one fucking time, couldn't they be a normal family? Couldn't they sit down together and at least be fucking civil? Brax had made up his mind about Charlie and no amount of sulking from his brothers was gonna change that.

"What the hell is the matter with you lot? Can't we ever be a normal family? Yeah, Charlie's a cop. So what?"

"It's not that Brax," Casey hurried to assure him.

"Yeah we don't really care," Heath backed him up, "Charlie's cool." Casey shot Heath a savage look.

"Well what is it then? 'Cause I can't take much more of this." Heath and Casey glared at each other, each waiting for the other to speak, or maybe not to speak, and Brax was seriously considering smashing their heads together to get some answers when Liam piped up.

"It's silly Brax, nothing for you to worry about. It was just a..." Liam paused, fishing for the right word, "...a lapse in judgment I guess." That wasn't an answer.

"About what?" Brax demanded.

"Nothing, it's not important," Heath said quickly, obviously he had something to hide. His statement caused Casey to throw him an indignant look.

"My traumatised teenage brain says different." Heath turned on Casey.

"Christ! I said I was sorry, what else can I do? It's not like I can go back in time and change it."

"No, but you shouldn't have done it in the first place! I'm a child, I shouldn't have to see things like that!"

"Enough! I swear to God if someone doesn't tell me what the hell is going on right now..." Brax warned, he was sick to death of this carry on. Heath and Casey's mouths snapped shut and they looked at him once more, clearly determined not to tell. Brax glanced at Charlie, wondering if maybe she could help, but she was as clueless as he was. "Heath? Casey?" he demanded of them in turn, directing a glare at each of them, but both seemed utterly determined to avoid speaking.

Oh for fuck's sake, boys! Ruby watched the ridiculous display and like Brax, she had had enough, so she just told it like it was. Just blurted it out for everyone to hear. At least this way they could all get on with their lives.

"Casey caught Liam giving Heath a blow job. There, that's it. That's the _big_ secret." Brax blinked once, then twice, why did they insist on putting him in these situations? He needed to be the adult here, even though Heath was twenty-six, he apparently couldn't be trusted to act like one. Brax sighed before handing out his orders. Heath first.

"You, keep it in your pants." Liam next. "You, keep it above the waist in my house, and you," Brax said, turning towards Casey. Oh his poor little brother, he really did look traumatised, and no bloody wonder. Looking at him sympathy overrode the annoyance. "Maybe we better get you a collar with a bell or something. At least that way they'll know when you're around." Brax wasn't gonna laugh, he swore he wasn't, he meant to be mature about this but fucking hell, in the end he was their brother, not their father. And when he caught the look on Charlie's face out of the corner of his eye, the barely contained laughter shining in her eyes, he lost it. Apparently Casey didn't find this as funny as he and Charlie did, judging by the scowl he was directing their way. Once he had his laughter under control Brax couldn't resist one last dig. It was entirely inappropriate but Brax couldn't help himself, a smirk slid onto his face as he reached for the meat tray and offered it up.

"Who wants a sausage?" Heath groaned and hid his face in his hands, Liam's cheeks turned bright pink, and Casey? Well he declared that he was now a vegetarian. As it turned out this family get together wasn't so bad after all, and Brax was left wondering why he'd ever thought a normal family was a good thing.


End file.
